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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: WARRIORS vs ROCKETS

May 27, 2018

Steve Kerr

Houston, Texas: Practice Day

Q. Game 7s, you've played in some, you've seen many. They're obviously decisive games, but how are they different psychologically than maybe games 1 through 6?
STEVE KERR: Well, I think everybody feels more nerves, for sure. You know, you wake up that morning and it's like this is it. This is the culmination of everything that's happened the last couple weeks. So more nerve-racking, but a lot of fun too. I think I played in three of them, if my memory serves me, and they're games that you remember. They're fun to be part of. It's exciting.

Q. [Andre] Iguodala was initially doubtful a few days ago. It's been day to day, day to day, has this gone slower than you guys thought it would?
STEVE KERR: Well, I mean, it's a bone bruise, so bone bruises are not easily diagnosed in terms of when you're going to come back from them. If Andre can play, he'll play. But I would call him doubtful, just because it's gone on this long, and he's had a lot of pain. So we'll just keep taking it day by day. But he's doing everything he can to be out on the floor. I mean, he's getting treatment several times a day and doing all the right things. It just hasn't responded yet, so hopefully that's soon.

Q. Back in late February, early March when you guys kind of were right there with Houston in terms of the top seed, and you maybe could have made a push, and you kind of underplayed it then about whether you guys were going to really go for it or not, did this cross your mind that you could be playing this Game 7 on the road in Houston?
STEVE KERR: Yeah, it definitely crossed my mind, but it didn't impair my thinking in terms of how we needed to approach the season. We had a lot of injuries, we had some sort of four-year fatigue going to The Finals, and I think this played out as it was supposed to.

Houston has had a phenomenal season. They targeted that home-court advantage and got it and they deserved it. So here we are, and let's go.

Q. To that point, even though the end game was more on the health and that sort of thing, just typically in the playoffs, how does the home court in a Game 7 usually kind of go into play with all the different things determining it?
STEVE KERR: You know, I'm sure somebody has the stat. The home team usually wins, you know? Last time we were in a home Game 7, the home team didn't win, unfortunately.

It's just a road game for us. It's a home game for them. It's the same advantage or disadvantage as any other game, to be honest with you.

We know we have a veteran team. We have guys who have been through almost everything, and we've got a lot of confidence.

Q. It seems like Shaun [Livingston] brought you a really sort of calming presence and a lot of the energy in the last game. What have you seen from him, and what do you expect to see from him tomorrow?
STEVE KERR: Same thing that Shaun always brings, which is a veteran poise and presence. He's a guy who handles the ball quite a bit for us, gets us into our offense. Great defensive player with versatility. Shaun's just a rock. He's there every day.

Q. You didn't go small a ton last game, and you haven't gone a ton, obviously, with Andre out in this series. Have you been avoiding it a little bit or is that still something you feel is a huge part of this series?
STEVE KERR: Well, I'm not exactly sure what going small means.

Q. Draymond [Green] at center?
STEVE KERR: Draymond at center, K.D. [Kevin Durant] at the four?

Q. Yeah.
STEVE KERR: Yeah, without Andre, it's tougher to get to just because we have a depth issue. This series is really all about guarding screen and roll defensively. So J.B. [Jordan Bell] has been great, Loon's [Kevon Looney] been great, and we're relying on those two to defend James [Harden] and Chris [Paul], and that's just the angle we've taken.

But losing Andre changed everything. So we've had to adapt and adjust, and this is the direction we've decided to go.

Q. What happened to Looney and when did it happen? You listed him as questionable with the toe?
STEVE KERR: To be honest, this is the first I've heard of it, so...

Q. Your starting center has a sprained toe.
STEVE KERR: Okay, thanks. Anybody else know anything about our other players?

Q. He's questionable, apparently.
STEVE KERR: He's questionable? All right. I'll question him tonight, and I'll tell him that he's playing.

Q. Speaking of Jordan, he ended up getting the most minutes last night that he's gotten throughout the playoffs. What did you see from him, and what do you expect from him going forward?
STEVE KERR: Great energy, great speed and athleticism, he's a good playmaker. He's been great this series and this season. But his season was sidetracked by the injury. Then Looney stepped in and played extremely well. Then the matchups didn't favor Jordan the first two rounds, but this is a good matchup for him because of the perimeter pick-and-roll play, and his ability to stay in front of people. We're thrilled with the way he's played and with his future here.

Q. Do you see Pat [McCaw] being able to get in?
STEVE KERR: Probably not. Probably not. It's still pretty early for him to throw him out in the middle of a Game 7. He just got four minutes for the first time in six weeks. That would be a lot to ask.

Q. You guys lost both close games. What do you take from that? You won blowouts, basically, but the really, really tight games, they took them both. What did you learn from those games?
STEVE KERR: Turnovers, simple. The team that has won the turnover battle has won every game. When we're locked in and we take care of the ball, then we have a great chance of catching fire like we did last night. So we've got to be dialed in.

Q. Those fourth quarters bug you, I'm sure, in those two games. What do you learn there?
STEVE KERR: We didn't execute well in games 4 and 5 down the stretch. I give Houston a lot of credit. Their defense was great. We just didn't find a rhythm in either of those games, but particularly down the stretch. So we've had to talk about that as a staff and think about what we would do differently. We've got plans for that.

Q. Are there any similarities you see to Game 7 in 2016 or was that just completely different?
STEVE KERR: I haven't given that one bit of thought. Totally different season, different opponent, different venue. So it's just Game 7.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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